Roman Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks (Latin: Dioecesis de Fairbanks) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the northwestern United States, comprising the northern regions of the state of Alaska. As of 2015, the diocese had 47 parishes and missions, with 17 priests, to serve 13,500 Catholics, in an area of 409,849 square miles (1,061,500 km2), making it the largest diocese in the United States geographically. It also has seven religious sisters and two religious brothers. It is led by a bishop who serves as pastor of the mother church, Sacred Heart Cathedral in the City of Fairbanks. The diocese is a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau.

Diocese of Fairbanks

Dioecesis de Fairbanks
Sacred Heart Cathedral
Coat of arms
Location
Country United States
TerritoryNorthern Alaska
Ecclesiastical provinceAnchorage-Juneau
Statistics
Area409,849 sq mi (1,061,500 km2)
Population
- Total
- Catholics (including non-members)		(as of 2016)
167,544
12,475 (7.4%)
Parishes46
Information
DenominationCatholic
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
EstablishedAugust 8, 1962 (1962-08-08)
CathedralSacred Heart Cathedral
Patron saintSt. Therese of Lisieux
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopChad Zielinski
Map
Website
dioceseoffairbanks.org
Former names: Prefecture Apostolic of Alaska (1894-1917), Vicariate Apostolic of Alaska (1917-1962).

History

Father John Althoff, a young Dutch priest of the Canadian Diocese of Vancouver Island, established the first permanent Catholic presence in the U. S. territory of Alaska when he founded Saint Rose of Lima Church in Wrangell on 3 May 1879. Having been assigned responsibility for missions in Alaska, Bishop Charles J. Seghers of the Diocese of Vancouver Island sent him to serve Wrangell, the Cassiar mining district on the Stikine River, and the former Russian capital of Sitka, where he would celebrate Mass in an old Russian carriage barn. Fr. Althoff subsequently moved to Juneau following the discovery of gold in the vicinity and celebrated the first mass and baptism in an interdenominational "Log Cabin Church" on 17 July 1882.[1]

The missions continued to expand as more missionaries arrived in the region. On 27 July 1894, Pope Leo XIII erected the Prefecture Apostolic of Alaska, taking the entire territory of Alaska from two Canadian dioceses - the Diocese of Vancouver Island and the Diocese of New Westminster, with its see in Juneau.[2]

On 22 December 1916, Pope Benedict XV elevated this jurisdiction to an vicariate apostolic.[3] He subsequently appointed Joseph Raphael John Crimont, S.J., until then the Prefect Apostolic of Alaska, as the first Vicar Apostolic of Alaska on 15 February 1917 and as titular Titular Bishop of Ammaedara on 22 March 1917. The jurisdiction actually got its first bishop when he received episcopal ordination on 25 July 1917.

On 23 June 1951, Pope Pius XII erected the Diocese of Juneau, taking the present territory of the Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau from the Vicariate Apostolic of Alaska, and simultaneously changed the title of the vicariate apostolic to Vicariate Apostolic of Northern Alaska and moved its see to Fairbanks.

On 8 August 1962, Pope Paul VI erected the Diocese of Fairbanks in the territory of the Vicariate Apostolic of Northern Alaska.

The first seven Bishops of Fairbanks were Jesuit missionaries. On June 7, 2002, Pope John Paul II appointed Donald Joseph Kettler as the first non-Jesuit Bishop of Fairbanks.

On 22 January 1966, Pope Paul VI erected the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Anchorage with territory taken from the Diocese of Juneau, assigning the Diocese of Fairbanks and the Diocese of Juneau as suffragans of the new metropolitan see.[4]

On November 12, 2019, the Vatican removed the Diocese of Fairbanks from its list of missionary dioceses, transferring control of the diocese from the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples to the Congregation for Bishops. Bishop Zielinski said that he hoped the move would help the shortage of priests in the diocese. At the time of that announcement, the diocese had only 17 priests to staff 46 parishes and missions.[5]

On 17 September 2020, Pope Francis suppressed the Diocese of Anchorage and the Diocese of Juneau and erected the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau with their combined territory (which constitutes the original territory of the Diocese of Juneau), designating the Diocese of Fairbanks as the only suffragan of the new metropolitan see.

Sexual abuse cases
Main article: Sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic diocese of Fairbanks

In February 2008, the diocese announced plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, claiming inability to pay the 140 plaintiffs who filed claims against the diocese for sexual abuse by priests or church workers dating from the 1950s to the early 1980s. The Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, was named as a co-defendant in the case, and settled for $50 million. The Diocese, which reports an operating budget of approximately $6 million, claims one of the diocese's insurance carriers failed to "participate meaningfully".[6][7][8][9] When bankruptcy was officially filed in 2012, it was acknowledged that reports of abuse spanned "over the last six decades."[10] Over time, the Diocese's list of "credibly accused" clergy grew as well.[11]

Bishops and other ordinaries

Prefects Apostolic of Alaska[12]
  1. Pascal Tosi (1894–1897)
  2. Jean-Baptiste René (1897–1904)
  3. Joseph Raphael John Crimont (1904–1917), appointed Vicar Apostolic of Alaska

Vicars Apostolic of Alaska[13]
  1. Joseph Raphael John Crimont (1917–1945)
  2. Walter James Fitzgerald (1945–1947)
  3. Francis Doyle Gleeson (1948–1951), title changed with change of title of vicariate apostolic

Vicar Apostolic of Northern Alaska[14]
  1. Francis Doyle Gleeson (1951-1962); Appointed first Bishop of Fairbanks

Bishops of Fairbanks
  1. Francis Doyle Gleeson (1962–1968)
    - George Theodore Boileau (Coadjutor Bishop 1964–1965), died before succession
  2. Robert Louis Whelan (1968–1985)
  3. Michael Joseph Kaniecki (1985–2000)
  4. Donald Joseph Kettler (2002–2013), appointed Bishop of Saint Cloud
  5. Chad William Zielinski (2014–present)

Other priest of the Vicariate of Alaska who became a bishop

Education

The diocese has 2 schools for education.

Health care
  • Hospital ministry - Catholic services to the sick & injured in existing hospitals & nursing homes.
  • Stephen ministry - interdenominational companions for people in grief, illness, loss, family breakdown, etc.

Media

The diocese provides communication to its community by:

  • The Alaskan Shepherd, a newsletter
  • KNOM radio. Established in 1971, KNOM is the oldest Catholic radio station in the country.
  • KQHE radio. Established in 2012.

See also

Footnotes
  1. Fr. Pat Travers, History of the Diocese of Juneau on web site of the former Diocese of Juneau.
  2. Diocese of Fairbanks page on Catholic Hierarchy web site.
  3. Ibid.
  4. Diocese of Juneau page on Catholic Hierarchy web site
  5. Guidos, Rhina (November 12, 2019). "Fairbanks bishop hopes move will help priest shortage". Catholic News Service. Catholic Philly. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  6. "Fairbanks Catholic Diocese filing for bankruptcy". KTUU.com. WorldNow. 2008-02-15. Archived from the original on 2009-06-02. Retrieved 2008-03-03. More than 150 claims were filed against the church for alleged crimes at the hands of clergy or church workers between the 1950s and 1980s.
  7. United Press International (2008-02-15). "Diocese of Fairbanks plans bankruptcy". ArcaMax. ArcaMax Publishing, Inc. Archived from the original on December 21, 2012. Retrieved 2008-03-03. Robert Hannon, who serves as a special assistant to Bishop Donald Kettler and is the diocesan chancellor, told the Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News that officials believe bankruptcy is the fairest way to compensate victims.
  8. Baldino, Megan (2008-02-15). "Diocese of Fairbanks to file for bankruptcy". CNA. Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 2008-03-03. The negotiations allegedly failed because one of the diocese's insurance carriers did not 'participate meaningfully.' ... Robert Hannon, chancellor and special assistant to Bishop Donald Kettler, said bankruptcy would provide a way for church assets to be distributed fairly among abuse victims.
  9. "Diocese hopes to continue operations despite Chapter 11 petition". Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Archived from the original on 2008-05-06.
  10. https://www.archbalt.org/number-of-sex-abuse-claimants-reaches-288-in-fairbanks-diocese/
  11. https://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2018/12/20/priests-and-members-of-diocese-of-fairbanks-named-as-perpetrators-of-sexual-abuse/
  12. Jurisdiction for the entire territory now compromising the State of Alaska.
  13. Jurisdiction for the entire territory now compromising the State of Alaska
  14. Jurisdiction for the territory now compromising the Diocese of Fairbanks

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